Afro newsnode

Progress at Information Society PrepCom

By Steven Lang - Highway Africa news Agency - 26 September

Leaders of the Third Preparatory meeting for the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) declared their satisfaction with the "considerable progress" achieved at the meeting in Geneva. They all recognised however, that there was still much unfinished business that needed to be attended to before the heads of government can adopt two key documents in December.

Speaking at the closing news conference of the Prepcom, Yoshio Utsumi,
secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union said, "we are making good progress but we have lots of challenges". He was referring to the numerous square brackets, used in UN documents to flag unresolved issues, that still remain in both the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action.

Utsumi said the continued existence of square brackets did not in anyway
undermine the summit. He commented jokingly, "If everything is finished today there will be no need to hold a summit".

Marc Furrer of the Swiss delegation to the summit was also pleased with the outcome of Prepcom 3, saying "we are further advanced than I thought." He noted that the Draft Declaration might be a little too detailed as he preferred two or three paged declarations, whereas the latest version of the document had grown from just under seven pages to over eight in less than a week of negotiations.

The real problem with both key documents is that according to United Nations rules, they both have to accepted by consensus. This means that even if a single member of a delegation objects to any aspect of a paragraph, then the offending word, phrase or even punctuation mark will go into square brackets.

The requirement of consensus can lead to very long, tedious debates over a minor phrase that 99 percent of the delegations are reasonably happy with. An example occurred during a meeting of the committee drafting the Plan of Action when Honduras suggested that the word "inclusive" precede every mention of the phrase "Information Society".

The chair pointed out that since the phrase is mentioned dozens of times in the document, it might make for a very laborious process. He then opened the floor to debate the issue. Some countries made interventions about it, but others used the opportunity of having the floor to raise other issues - a very tedious discussion ensued and the long document
became longer.

The President of the preparatory process, Adama Samassekou, said that
the "misunderstandings with Civil Society had been resolved". Recalling Civil Society's unhappiness with the limited time given to observers to address the plenary session, he said that the input from civil society had made a significant impact. He said it was not feasible to include all of civil society's input in the final documents, as even many government concerns had to be left out.

Samassekou pointed out that the WSIS process was unique in the history of UN summits because never before had an inter-governmental meeting allowed non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to have so much input into the process of drawing up summit documents. He said that the normal procedure would be to allow Civil Society to hold parallel events.

Civil Society did not fully accept that reconciliation with the governmental group had been achieved. Maria Beatriz Busaniche, leader of the education and academia caucus of Civil Society read a statement announcing that "If governments continue to exclude our principles, we will not lend legitimacy to the final WSIS documents."

Stepping back from earlier threats to walk out of the meetings or to draw up a 'shadow' Declaration, Civil Society did acknowledge that important progress had been made in the WSIS process. Busaniche said that there was far greater cooperation at the current series of meetings than there had ever been at earlier UN summits, but that much more progress was needed.
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KENYA'S HOPES SHATTERED

BY REBECCA WANJIKU in Geneva - Highway Africa News Agency

Kenya's hopes of laying a fibre optic cable along the east coast of Africa have been shattered after delegates attending the third preparatory committee of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) failed to reach a compromise.

Governments present for the negotiations disagreed on the language and
provisions of the Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action. The two
documents are still in square brackets - a United Nations convention for
flagging unresolved text.

"Our development dream has been shattered," said Francis Wangusi, the head of Kenyan delegation to the committee.

It was on the two WSIS documents that Wangusi hung his hopes to revitalise the telecommunication sector by establishing cheaper and faster means of connecting to the world. The East African coast will not be able to emulate the examples set in west and southern Africa where optic fibre cables are already in place.

The African Group proposed in a submission to Prepcom 3, the establishment of a new Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) that would assist poorer countries establish solid information communication technologies (ICT). The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) initially proposed the fund to benefit African nations, but it was soon transformed in a global fund for all developing nations.

When he left Nairobi Wangusi was instructed to push for the fund, on which to lay the cornerstone of the Information Society in Kenya.

If governments agreed on the text and the language of the two documents, he argued, there would have been a concrete basis to move ahead with the task of bridging the digital divide.

Asked why so much emphasis was placed on this fund, the director of the
Communications Commission in Kenya (CCK) said that WSIS was a turning point in bridging the gap and any fund coming from the meeting would only be committed to developmental issues.

While Kenya's hopes may have been dashed at this meeting, Wangusi said the government would embark on a strategic plan aimed at wooing private investors to set up the optical fibre connection. To achieve this goal, Wangusi admitted that the government faced a gigantic task of reforming its taxation regime and restructuring its policies to attract international investors.

"I am sure other African governments will bank on the private sector to bridge this gap. We cannot give up though I hoped we would come up with conclusive implementation elements," he added.

Wangusi blamed the failure to agree on the rigidity of the developed nations, mainly the United States of America and European Union. He wondered why developed nations opposed every move taken by African representatives while at the same time always expressing their willingness to bridge the gap. He termed the position taken by developed nations as harsh and unfair to Africa. "It is depressing to labour so hard yet go home with intangible results," he concluded.
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Please if you are visiting, thankyou. I must hasten to say you are in the right place. Keep close to us and we shall keep close to you with all the developments.

D. J. Weddi
EDITOR Afro Newsnode
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WSIS: UN Betrayed Us - women
By Rebecca Wanjiku in Geneva - Highway Africa News Agency

Leaders of women's movements have expressed disappointment over the United Nations failure to promote women's empowerment through the development of strong international legal instruments.

Representatives of women's organisations attending the third preparatory
committee of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) have accused the UN of failing to ensure that gender issues are adequately addressed in the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action.

"We feel betrayed, this is a step backward, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) came up with a better document than this meeting. We thought the UN would focus on getting more commitment on women empowerment from different governments," said Victoria Cabrera, the media and information manager at Isis, an organisation based in Philippines.

Cabrera also said she was disappointed that the UN had backtracked on its
promise to involve civil society in the deliberations - a sense of betrayal shared by many civil society leaders. "We all believed the UN when it promised that this meeting will be inclusive of all sectors. Because of the failure to honour this commitment, we were unable to articulate our issues because we were not allowed to address governments on specific matters that we considered important," said Alice Munyua, a representative of FEMNET, an East and Central African regional organisation.

Cabrera and Munyua praised the drafting committee however, for recognising that Information Communication Technology (ICT) provides enormous promise for women and honoured them as an integral part of the society. The provision contained in paragraph 9 of the Declaration of Principles also notes that governments are committed to fostering gender equality. "I am sure the document can make much impact if it deepened its recognition on issues such as community media and the potential for women especially from the developing countries," added Cabrera.

Emmanuel Njenga of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) argued that gender issues were properly addressed in the two documents "because they were well organised and put their suggestions forward."

Asked what specific aspects of the two documents they objected to, Munyua and Cabrera agreed that the Declaration and the Plan of Action supported a market- based agenda and failed to address issues of free and open source software.

They said the documents protected the interests of private software companies because they failed to recommend alternative software.

On the highly contentious issue of how the Internet could be responsible for gender-based violence and prejudice, Cabrera argued that a great opportunity has been lost to address this issue. "I thought it was time to resolve it since we are dealing with ICTs. We will remain optimistic it will be resolved in the near future but the struggle must continue," Cabrera concluded.
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The Right to Communicate

By Steven Lang, Highway Africa News Agency - Geneva, September 25

Many countries and non-governmental organisations believe that there exists, or should exist, a basic right to communicate. The say that this right should be entrenched in the Declaration of Principles to be approved at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in December.

The right to communicate, often cited together with the right to information, has provoked uncertainty at the WSIS preparatory meetings in Geneva, because there is little agreement on what this right means. If one takes the literal meaning of the word 'communicate' there would be little dispute, but there would also be little point in including this right in the Declaration.

We all communicate during most of our waking hours, and there has been no
disagreement about the right to do so on a one-to-one basis. There is however, a wide variety of opinion when people begin using technology to communicate.

In the 20th century, radio and television became potent tools of mass
communication and repressive regimes easily took control of these powerful media because the communication was essentially in one direction. Despots could tell the people whatever they wanted to and the listeners or viewers were only passive receptors of communication.

The Internet has enabled anyone with access to the right technology, to publish to the world. This means that if the right to communicate is upheld, governments can lose their monopoly on mass communications. In a genuine democracy this is not an obstacle, but it can represent a serious threat to despotic regimes.

Countries that reject the inclusion of the right to communicate in the WSIS documents can never argue that they see the right as a possible threat to their rule. It is much more acceptable to invoke technical issues, saying that all human rights are properly dealt with in the Human Rights Charter. If the new right to communicate were included in the WSIS Declaration of Principles then it would have to be included in all previous international declarations and documents - a very complicated and tedious task that would cause immense problems in the cumbersome drafting process usually employed by international organisations.
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The Right to Communicate

By Steven Lang, Highway Africa News Agency - Geneva, September 25

Many countries and non-governmental organisations believe that there exists, or should exist, a basic right to communicate. The say that this right should be entrenched in the Declaration of Principles to be approved at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in December.

The right to communicate, often cited together with the right to information, has provoked uncertainty at the WSIS preparatory meetings in Geneva, because there is little agreement on what this right means. If one takes the literal meaning of the word 'communicate' there would be little dispute, but there would also be little point in including this right in the Declaration.

We all communicate during most of our waking hours, and there has been no
disagreement about the right to do so on a one-to-one basis. There is however, a wide variety of opinion when people begin using technology to communicate.

In the 20th century, radio and television became potent tools of mass
communication and repressive regimes easily took control of these powerful media because the communication was essentially in one direction. Despots could tell the people whatever they wanted to and the listeners or viewers were only passive receptors of communication.

The Internet has enabled anyone with access to the right technology, to publish to the world. This means that if the right to communicate is upheld, governments can lose their monopoly on mass communications. In a genuine democracy this is not an obstacle, but it can represent a serious threat to despotic regimes.

Countries that reject the inclusion of the right to communicate in the WSIS documents can never argue that they see the right as a possible threat to their rule. It is much more acceptable to invoke technical issues, saying that all human rights are properly dealt with in the Human Rights Charter. If the new right to communicate were included in the WSIS Declaration of Principles then it would have to be included in all previous international declarations and documents - a very complicated and tedious task that would cause immense problems in the cumbersome drafting process usually employed by international organisations.
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Content vs. Technology

Steven Lang in Geneva 25 September 2003 - Highway Africa News Agency

Many of the disagreements surfacing at the preparatory meetings for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) are based on differing understandings of what the summit is all about, and who should be running it.

Delegates from technical backgrounds argue that it is all about providing the technology for an information society. Politicians believe it is all about securing a balance of power, most non-governmental organisations (NGOs) say it should be about human rights, while the business lobby insist that market forces and 'sound engineering principles' should guide the outcome of the summit.

Technicians can claim to hold sway at WSIS because it was the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a studiedly technical organisation, that first called for the summit as far back as 1998. The ITU is also the international body entrusted with organising the summit. Since most governments sent representatives with technical knowledge to the initial meetings and prepcoms, it should not be surprising that the two main documents under consideration at the third and final prepcom in Geneva contain very little about content issues.

Last week, as time began running out for the committees drafting the summit documents, the politicians changed the rules of procedure and restricted observer participation in the process. The observers, including NGOs and the business sector, were only allowed to make five-minute interventions at the beginning of sessions and were then asked to leave.

The rule changes incensed most NGOs who are working together under the civil society umbrella. Some threatened to walk out of the summit altogether, while others proposed 'shadow documents' to present to the world what they believe that the summit documentation should reflect.

Summits are however, gatherings of political leaders who usually display little interest in technological issues but rather a profound fascination with power and politics. Ultimately the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action will be political documents rather than technological treatises and it is the heads of government who will have the final say on whether the documents are to be signed, or not.
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China and Arab Countries Block the Media

By Emrakeb Assefa - Highway Africa News Agency

Geneva - September 25 2003

China and several Arab countries are at loggerheads with most of the rest of the world over the proposed inclusion of the media as one of the five
stakeholders in the information society. The heated debate is taking place as the Third Preparatory Committee meeting of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) nears its end in Geneva.

In a stand completely opposed to that of the other delegates at the PrePcom3 meeting, China and the Arab group have refused to accept the media as a major player in making the information society inclusive and bridging the digital divide.

The main point of contention is contained in the introduction of the Draft Plan of Action, paragraph 3, sub-paragraph D, which identifies media as one of the five categories of stakeholders that have an important role to play in the information society. The media's inclusion was one of two disputed issues left pending after the plenary session debate on the introductory chapter of the Draft Plan of Action.

"We never agreed to have the media as a stakeholder," the Chinese
representative stated when Numminen Asko, a representative of Finland and the Chair of the plenary meeting indicated that although a general consensus had been reached on the sub-paragraph, the issue has to remain in brackets, leaving the final decision to be made at the Geneva Summit in December.

Syria, speaking on the behalf of Arab countries, put its weight behind China, and said it wanted the whole sub-paragraph to be deleted. It categorically said, "The media cannot be one of the main players in the information society."

Curiously, the only other country, that appeared to be in the China camp, was Norway, a country known for upholding democratic values and for supporting media freedom. But its reason for not wanting to have the media as a stakeholder was made on entirely different basis. The Norwegian representative said, "It [The media] does not belong naturally with other stakeholders in the list." The list of stakeholders includes governments, the private sector, civil society, media as well as international and regional organisations.

Russia for its part gave lukewarm support to this camp by proposing that
Paragraph 3 sub-Para D be deleted because it had already been included in the Draft Declaration of Principles.

In the opposite camp are countries whose citizens enjoy varying degrees of media freedom. Representatives from Algeria, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, US, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Japan, Nicaragua, Botswana, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and many others firmly supported the inclusion of media as a major stakeholder in the Information Society.

"The media should be there as an essential part so that the message from the summit to the world is about the importance of the media in the information society," the US and India argued.

As a result of the impasse caused by a small handful of countries, the chair closed the debate, stating that the discussion was "very difficult and impossible to arrive at an agreement or compromise at this meeting".
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WSIS: Interview with Lyndall Shope-Mafole

By Steven Lang - GENEVA September 24, 2003

The process of drawing up a draft Declaration of Principles for the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is on track according to Lyndall Shope-Mafole, Chairperson of the drafting committee. The drafting is taking place at the Third WSIS Prepcom in Geneva, the same city that will host the December summit.

Shope-Mafole said that even if some square brackets, used to flag disputed terminology, remain in the draft, they will not in any way put the summit at risk. She said, "we have advanced a lot, "allaying fears of some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who believe that there will not be sufficient consensus by the end of this week to give the go ahead. In previous UN summits, such as the WSSD in Johannesburg last year, square brackets were being disputed until the arrival of the heads of state.

She is acutely aware of the dissatisfaction among NGOs about how they are being treated by the inter-governmental structures. She said, "I understand their level of frustration and concern because they would like to participate, but the level of their participation in this Summit has been unprecedented in the history of the UN - it has never happened before."

Shope-Mafole pointed out that never before have civil society and business been allowed to directly address a UN plenary session before. She said that the committee was also working on a plan to allow these sectors to make inputs at the Summit in December.

She acknowledged the important inputs made by civil society to the Draft
Declaration and said that many of the points submitted have already been
included in the document, but said that ultimately business of negotiating international agreements was the domain of governments.

As a South African citizen, Shope-Mafole said she was satisfied that her
government had taken due cognizance of the interests of civil society. The government delegation had received a number of significant contributions from local NGOs, and many of these inputs were included in official submissions.

Referring to civil society threats to walk out of the Prepcom, Shope-Mafole offered to share some advice with the unhappy NGOs, saying that as a student activist in apartheid South Africa she learned that, "..sometimes how you put your story forward is more important than what you say."

She urged members of civil society to understand the need for compromise in negotiations and to cooperate with governments to make sure that the final documents are not driven by market forces.

As chairperson of the committee responsible for drawing up the Draft
Declaration, Lyndall Shope-Mafole, expressed concern over a particular
paragraph devoted to the media as it has provoked some apparently
irreconcilable differences Media freedom and the role of the media in the information society are highly contentious issues at the present stage of negotiations. China leads a group of countries that argue against a special place for media, lumping all forms of media with NGOs in civil society. Activists believe that removing the special status of media would undermine critical requirements of freedom of speech.

The draft Declaration paragraph on media freedom has generated many hours of debate and a rich mix of square brackets, but the single most difficult phrase requires the existence of an independent media 'in accordance with the legal system of each country'. If this critical phrase is retained without square brackets, it would allow a repressive regime to clampdown on its critics provided that the government was acting within its own national law. There would be no international instrument requiring an absolute adherence to the universal right to freedom of expression.

It can also be argued that there is no need for such a phrase, as all
governments have to act within their national laws anyway.

Internet security and management could be very different after the December summit if moves to set up two new UN bodies come to fruition. Russia and China are pushing to establish a body that has already been approved by the UN General Assembly, to control the security of networks. Both countries, together with several developing nations, are very uncomfortable with the US's virtual stranglehold on the world's Internet networks. Currently all Internet traffic is routed through 13 root servers - eleven of them in the United States. There is a widespread feeling that should American facilities come under some kind of
attack, the entire world could lose connectivity.

A second UN body could be set up to manage international top-level domains.

Currently a California based organisation called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the de facto coordinator of the Internet.

Once again, there is dissatisfaction with the fact that a corporation with strong ties to the US government should be managing what is essentially an international resource.
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This Blog section is not a trial session. For the time being this blog will focus on Africa's participation in the ongoing developments as we enter December for the the WSIS in Geneva.

I will always thankyou for visiting.

The Blog Editor Davis Weddi">
CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME
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WHO SHOULD MANAGE INTERNET POLICIES?
BY REBECCA WANJIKU , - Highway Africa News Agency Geneva

The debate over who should manage Internet policies has become largely
polarised into two opposing camps, loosely aligned along developed or
developing nation lines.

The United States wants the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to maintain its task as the highest-level authority in the distribution and assigning of domain names, or Internet addresses. Those opposing this position believe that an international body working within the UN framework should take over this responsibility.

Following more an hour of intense discussions over the wording and provisions of the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action, delegates to the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) third preparatory committee could not decide whether Internet policies should be managed by governments or by the private sector

The US delegation said that if it did not get its way on the relevant clause, its president would not attend the Summit - a threat not without precedent in previous UN summits. Nations opposed to maintaining the status quo, attacked every argument advanced by the US delegation. Brazil led the galaxy of nations arguing against leaving the management of the Internet with ICANN.

Canada, the European Union, Mexico and Malaysia rallied behind the US and
maintained that the entire management of the Internet must be placed in private hands.

China, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and the Arab nations argued that governments should determine the direction of Internet-related public policies and an intergovernmental body should be established under the UN framework.

"How can you place competitive business issues under the UN, after half a
century since inception, the UN can not boast of alleviating poverty let alone bringing telephones nearer to the people. We have to make proper decisions in matters relating to competition and monopoly," said Jack Gleason, a delegate from the US government.

"This discussion has been a waste of time, we have spent more than an hour yet our positions remain the same," he added.

Developing nations say that the proposition put forward by the US and its
supporters would probably stifle economic growth. They argue that most Internet resources are currently in private hands and that governments would lose the ability to influence policies if the status quo is maintained.

Francis Wangusi, head of the Kenyan delegation at Prepcom 3 believes that
Internet technology has encroached on other operations such as fixed line
telephone and fax services. Many governments rely on state owned telephone companies to raise substantial revenues.

If the US position prevails, he argued, revenue will be placed in the hands of private companies and governments will lose out in the process. Therefore, he maintained that governments should be given a chance to find alternative sources of revenue. "USA has everything to gain in this arrangement, most private companies dealing with the Internet are based there," said Wangusi.

Developing nations argue that if ICANN and other US-based entities are allowed to dictate Internet policies, they will effectively raise revenue from the poor countries who will receive very little in return.

There is further resentment against paying the US government, through ICANN, for monitoring the use of Top Level domains. They believe the current system is unfair because sovereign states effectively become subject to the rules of one country - the USA - when using the Internet.

The US delegation urged delegates to postpone its decision until 2005 when ICANN will have finalised its negotiations with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) over control of top-level domains. But opposing governments felt that the current summit might be the right time for them to make the decision.

The issue remains contentious and was referred to the main drafting committee for further deliberations.
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NEW PROPOSALS TO BEEF UP DIGITAL SOLIDARITY FUND

By EMRAKEB ASSEFA - Highway Africa News Agency

Geneva - September 24 2003

Heated debates about the Digital Solidarity Agenda and its implementing tool, the Digital Solidarity Fund reopened on Wednesday when Arab countries came up with a new set of proposals to be added to the text of the draft Declaration of Principles.

All countries strongly supported the new proposed text with the exception of the European Union (EU) and the United States who tried to block the move saying that the proposal violated rules of procedure. They said the new proposal was derailing the Prepcom 3 process.

"We really cannot hide our disappointment because the new Arab proposal is stopping us from our track in the process and we are creating a precedent by going back on what we have been working for the past ten days," the
representative from EU said. He called the debates, as "going back to ground zero," saying that "the result of discussions will only be to come up with nothing".

He noted that after the inter-sessional meeting in Paris, his delegation took the agreed upon terms of the Solidarity Agenda and Fund back to leaders in the 25 EU capitals. "Now it will be difficult for us to tell them that things have changed," he maintained.

The new Arab proposal calls for fundamental changes in chapters that deal with the financial, knowledge, and technological support developed countries are expected to provide to developing countries to bridge the digital divide. It calls for the establishment of a solid basis for international cooperation mechanisms that are necessary to assist in eliminating financial and other obstacles that impede the access to ICT for developing countries.

Mali, India, Cuba, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, South Africa and Senegal were only some of the countries that strongly supported the re-opening of the agenda so that the issue could be dealt properly. The debates resulted from a decision made during an extra meeting held late Tuesday night on the issue of financing and international cooperation.

Supporting the EU, the US delegate warned that bringing new text to the already agreed upon Digital Solidarity Agenda is "asking too much" from the developed countries.

The Saudi Arabian delegation, speaking on the behalf of the Arab countries, described the existing text about the Digital Solidarity Agenda in the draft Declaration as being "totally unacceptable, and for saying too little and too late."

Proposed by African countries and endorsed by G-77 the old Para 49 deals with international cooperation and the transfer of technology, knowledge and finances in order to bridge the digital divide.

Backing the Arab countries proposal, the representative of Cuba called the
inclusion of the new text as "the absolute minimum."

"One of the real essential topics of the December summit will be the transfer of knowledge, technology and without them it would be difficult for developing countries to have a meaningful participation in the summit," he said.

South Africa, also putting its weight in support of the new proposal, stressed that the new additions should not be viewed as "a derailment of the process."

It was agreed that the text does not satisfy the majority of the delegations and that it should accommodate the new proposal made by the Arab countries.

The representative from India emphasizing the value of international
cooperation stated, "The heads of state of developing countries must feel that they got something out of the Geneva Summit" and he maintained the only way they would feel included in the process would be if there was some kind of promise from the developed world of international cooperation such as the Digital Solidarity Fund. Saudi Arabia warned that unless the issue was clearly defined that the "whole summit would be a failure."

A drafting group led by India and including the US, Senegal, Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, Honduras, EU and South Africa was formed to come up with a new text which will incorporate the new Arab proposal into Paragraph 49.

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INTERNET GOVERNANCE: WHO COORDINATES?

BY REBECCA WANJIKU
- Highway Africa News Agency- Geneva


A major rift, between developed countries and African governments, over who controls the Internet could herald a new era in the information society.

African delegates attending the WSIS third preparatory committee have sought to dilute the role of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) through the establishment of an intergovernmental body within the UN framework. ICANN is the organisation that currently coordiantes and manages top level domain names.

African delegates argue that the proposed UN body set to replace ICANN will have the interests of all governments and Internet users at heart while the California based non profit body says that is not feasible because the American government and other interested parties have made substantial investments to make it what it is today.

The chairman of the Internet governance sub committee, Francis Wangusi, says that ICANN should not be allowed to control Internet matters alone because it is controlled by the Commerce Department of the United States. He argues that Internet governance should be controlled by an intergovernmental body rather than a single country - in this case the USA.
READ MORE...
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Media under threat at WSIS
Wairagala Wakabi
- Highway Africa News Agency
Geneva - September 21 2003

Though several African governments continue to harass critical media, a key United Nations summit could soon legitimise oppressive national media legislation.

If that happens, as is probable this December at the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS), despotic states will be able to 'legally' breach article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Specifically, article 19 says this right includes "freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers".

READ MORE
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NEW PROPOSALS TO BEEF UP DIGITAL SOLIDARITY FUND

By EMRAKEB ASSEFA - Highway Africa News Agency

Geneva - September 24 2003

Heated debates about the Digital Solidarity Agenda and its implementing tool, the Digital Solidarity Fund reopened on Wednesday when Arab countries came up with a new set of proposals to be added to the text of the draft Declaration of Principles.

All countries strongly supported the new proposed text with the exception of the European Union (EU) and the United States who tried to block the move saying that the proposal violated rules of procedure. They said the new proposal was derailing the Prepcom 3 process.

"We really cannot hide our disappointment because the new Arab proposal is stopping us from our track in the process and we are creating a precedent by going back on what we have been working for the past ten days," the
representative from EU said. He called the debates, as "going back to ground zero," saying that "the result of discussions will only be to come up with nothing".

He noted that after the inter-sessional meeting in Paris, his delegation took the agreed upon terms of the Solidarity Agenda and Fund back to leaders in the 25 EU capitals. "Now it will be difficult for us to tell them that things have changed," he maintained.

The new Arab proposal calls for fundamental changes in chapters that deal with the financial, knowledge, and technological support developed countries are expected to provide to developing countries to bridge the digital divide. It calls for the establishment of a solid basis for international cooperation mechanisms that are necessary to assist in eliminating financial and other obstacles that impede the access to ICT for developing countries.

Mali, India, Cuba, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, South Africa and Senegal were only some of the countries that strongly supported the re-opening of the agenda so that the issue could be dealt properly. The debates resulted from a decision made during an extra meeting held late Tuesday night on the issue of financing and international cooperation.

Supporting the EU, the US delegate warned that bringing new text to the already agreed upon Digital Solidarity Agenda is "asking too much" from the developed countries.

The Saudi Arabian delegation, speaking on the behalf of the Arab countries, described the existing text about the Digital Solidarity Agenda in the draft Declaration as being "totally unacceptable, and for saying too little and too late."

Proposed by African countries and endorsed by G-77 the old Para 49 deals with international cooperation and the transfer of technology, knowledge and finances in order to bridge the digital divide.

Backing the Arab countries proposal, the representative of Cuba called the
inclusion of the new text as "the absolute minimum."

"One of the real essential topics of the December summit will be the transfer of knowledge, technology and without them it would be difficult for developing countries to have a meaningful participation in the summit," he said.

South Africa, also putting its weight in support of the new proposal, stressed that the new additions should not be viewed as "a derailment of the process."

It was agreed that the text does not satisfy the majority of the delegations and that it should accommodate the new proposal made by the Arab countries.

The representative from India emphasizing the value of international
cooperation stated, "The heads of state of developing countries must feel that they got something out of the Geneva Summit" and he maintained the only way they would feel included in the process would be if there was some kind of promise from the developed world of international cooperation such as the Digital Solidarity Fund. Saudi Arabia warned that unless the issue was clearly defined that the "whole summit would be a failure."

A drafting group led by India and including the US, Senegal, Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, Honduras, EU and South Africa was formed to come up with a new text which will incorporate the new Arab proposal into Paragraph 49.

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Coelacanth fish discovered in Tanzania

By Aloyce Menda Tanzania

The coelacanth fish that disappeared 65 million years ago was fished on September 09, 2003 in a small island of Songa Mnara in the Tanzania Indian Ocean of East Africa.

Before the fish was discovered in South Africa in 1938 by 32-year-old Marjorie Courtenay Latimer who was the curator of a tiny museum in the port town of East London, northeast of Cape Town, South Africa.

A local fisherman fished the Tanzanian Coelacanth from a restricted ocean area and later sold it for the Tanzanian shillings 20, 000 (US $ 20) to a tourist sea diver James Taylor. Before the tourist had detected the fish in an open local shore market. It weighed 40 kilograms with 1.32-meter length and had its internal organs remove ready for smoking preservation by the fishmonger.
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Cyber security debates heat up Prepcom3
By Emrakeb Assefa
-Highway Africa News Agency - Geneva

As the third WSIS preparatory committee enters its second week, Internet
security is one the most contentious issues currently under debate in Geneva.

Government representatives and civil society are meeting in Geneva from
September 15 to 26 to come up with a draft Declaration of Principles and a Plan of Action to be tabled to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in December.

Pushed by the US, Swedish and Pakistan representatives, a proposal on the action plan was endorsed today that stressed the role of the governments in building confidence, trust and security in the use of Information, Communication Technologies (ICTs).
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Governments and the Media - Eternal Foes?

By Chris Kabwato

The third Preparatory Committee Meeting (PrepCom3) of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) taking place in Geneva has thrown into sharp relief the gap between governments and the media.

In the current negotiations between the government representatives and the media a deadlock has been reached on a number of issues. In the current draft of the Declaration of Principles there is paragraph 51 on the Media which contains the line ?

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